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Chris McRae

Sunday JULY 5, 2015Solstices and Planets out of Bounds

Planets usually travel within the boundary of the Sun’s maximum declination of 23:27 north/south of the celestial equator. However they may travel beyond this point with a rather maverick or “beyond normal range” of influence called Out of Bounds. Also, is the solstice turning point itself meaningful?

Homage to Artemis

We were talking about predictions. Monica Dimino, Jacqueline Janes, and Twink McKenney came to my house one weekend in February to participate in a dress rehearsal for my writing group at the OPA retreat in April. We talked about what to write, why write, and where to place our writing. Monica started a discussion on predictions and how the expectations of predictions color astrology readings. We pondered over how to educate the public about astrology and teach them not to expect predictions when they come in for a reading.

At the end of the day we drove to town to go to the fish market to buy lobsters for a special dinner, a reward for working so hard. On the way back we noticed the moon and Venus, the only lights shining in the early evening sky. A few minutes later, a deer ran across the road and then another deer followed and ran into my car, or, my car ran into the deer. It happened so fast.

Did we, could we, predict that this would happen? No.

The next day Jacqueline created a composite chart for the four of us, and put the transits of the deer accident on the outer wheel. We read the whole story of the incident in that chart.

A composite chart is a chart of a couple or a group. It describes a hypothetical being. This one showed the energy within the car that intersected with the deer. In the composite chart, the Sun is in Aries opposite Mercury and both are in square to Mars. This is good symbolism for a writing group trying to write astrology and express new ideas. Uranus in Gemini in the 3rd house says the same thing. Venus, the ruler of the 3rd house of vehicles, sits in Pisces on the 12 house side of the Pisces ascendant and is in trine to Mars and Saturn, giving inspirations and artistry to our work. She is in square to Uranus in the 3rd. The Sag midheaven calls out to the world that we have something to teach.

I’ve already mentioned the Moon-Venus conjunction visible in the sky. The composite Sun is midway between those two planets. The transiting Sun was conjunct Venus, thus in square to Uranus. Transiting Uranus was square to the MH/IC axis. Deer are large animals and I place them in the 12th house since horses are 12th house animals and deer are somewhat similar to horses. Uranus rules the 12th house in the composite chart and describes the potential for a car accident as he is in Gemini in the 3rd.

As I sat shaking in the car after the accident while we waited for the police car to come, Jacqueline said, Moon-Venus, deer, this is Artemis/Diana symbolism. Artemis is the goddess of the hunt and a goddess of the moon who personifies the independent feminine spirit. She is the goddess of wildlife. She is also associated with women getting together in sisterhood as we were doing at that writing weekend. It felt like she gave one of her deer in sacrifice to the creativity of four sensitive and intelligent women.

I followed up on this theme of Artemis by emailing Demetra George, the astrological community’s asteroid goddess, and asking her the degree and sign for the asteroids Artemis and Diana. Demetra told me that Artemis is at 4 degrees of Cancer, the degree of the composite Saturn, and Diana is at 12 Aquarius, the degree where Jupiter was on that day. Jupiter was transiting through the 12th house of the composite, a traditional signal of protection. Jupiter protected us. If I had been driving a weensy bit faster, the deer would have run into the passenger seat and hurt Jacqueline or Twink who were riding on that side of the car.

The lesson about prediction this incident taught us is that the story is written, and once one knows the specifics of the situation, one can always go back and read it in a chart. This accuracy does not exist in looking ahead. One sees themes, timings, and directions, but I do not think that one can be precise in predictions.

Just like that night, we knew that there are many deer in the woods, but we didn’t see this one coming until it was in our face and on our fender.

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